FREE MCKINNEY: UN investigator says seizing Gaza aid ship `unlawful', blockade a `continuing crime against humanity'
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xprophecy
Jul 3, 2009, 12:12:44 AM7/3/09
to Cynthia Squad
UN expert: Israeli seizure of Gaza-bound aid ship is 'criminal'
By Reuters
Last update - 05:03 03 JUL 2009
A UN human rights investigator on Thursday called Israel's seizure of
a ship carrying relief aid for the Gaza Strip "unlawful" and said its
blockade of the territory constituted a "continuing crime against
humanity".
Israeli authorities on Tuesday intercepted the vessel, which was also
carrying 21 pro-Palestinian activists, and said it would not be
permitted to enter Gaza coastal waters because of security risks in
the area and its existing naval blockade.
Richard Falk, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in
the Palestinian territories, said the move was part of Israel's "cruel
blockade of the entire Palestinian population of Gaza" in violation of
the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibiting any form of collective
punishment against "an occupied people".
Falk, an American expert on international law, said Israel's two-year
blockade of Hamas-ruled Gaza restricted vital supplies such as food,
medicine and fuel to "bare subsistence levels".
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said in a report
this week that Israel was also halting entry to Gaza of building
materials and spare parts needed to repair damage from its 22-day
invasion late last December.
"Such a pattern of continuing blockade under these conditions amounts
to such a serious violation of the Geneva Conventions as to constitute
a continuing crime against humanity," Falk said in a statement
released in Geneva.
Prior to leaving Cyprus, the ship was inspected by Cypriot authorities
in response to Israeli demands to determine whether it carried any
weapons, according to the UN investigator. "None were found and
Israeli authorities were so informed."
"Nonetheless, the 21 peace activists on the boat were arrested, held
in captivity and have been charged with 'illegal entry' to Israel even
though they had no intention of going to Israel," Falk added.
ISRAEL ENVOY SAYS FALK 'BIASED'
Israel's ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Aharon Leshno-Yaar, rejected
the remarks by Falk whom he said was "known for his bias against
Israel and anti-Israel statements".
Israel is allowing relief aid to reach Gaza in coordination with Egypt
and the Palestinian Authority, Leshno-Yaar said.
"Clearly the purpose of that ship was to create a buzz and serve as a
propaganda vehicle against Israel," he told Reuters.
Activists from the U.S.-based Free Gaza movement said that Irish Nobel
peace prize laureate Mairead Maguire and former U.S. congresswoman
Cynthia McKinney were among those aboard.
Falk, who is Jewish, has had his own difficulties with Israeli
authorities in trying to fulfill his independent mandate for the UN
Human Rights Council.
Last December, he was detained and turned back from Israel, forcing
him to abort a planned mission to Gaza -- a deportation denounced by
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
In a report last March, Falk said Israel's year-end military assault
on the densely population coastal strip of 1.5 million appeared to
constitute a grave war crime.
https://twitter.com/xprophecy/status/2448546899
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1097608.html
* * * *
FREE CYNTHIA MCKINNEY
http://twitter.com/cynthiamckinney
By Reuters
Last update - 05:03 03 JUL 2009
A UN human rights investigator on Thursday called Israel's seizure of
a ship carrying relief aid for the Gaza Strip "unlawful" and said its
blockade of the territory constituted a "continuing crime against
humanity".
Israeli authorities on Tuesday intercepted the vessel, which was also
carrying 21 pro-Palestinian activists, and said it would not be
permitted to enter Gaza coastal waters because of security risks in
the area and its existing naval blockade.
Richard Falk, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in
the Palestinian territories, said the move was part of Israel's "cruel
blockade of the entire Palestinian population of Gaza" in violation of
the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibiting any form of collective
punishment against "an occupied people".
Falk, an American expert on international law, said Israel's two-year
blockade of Hamas-ruled Gaza restricted vital supplies such as food,
medicine and fuel to "bare subsistence levels".
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said in a report
this week that Israel was also halting entry to Gaza of building
materials and spare parts needed to repair damage from its 22-day
invasion late last December.
"Such a pattern of continuing blockade under these conditions amounts
to such a serious violation of the Geneva Conventions as to constitute
a continuing crime against humanity," Falk said in a statement
released in Geneva.
Prior to leaving Cyprus, the ship was inspected by Cypriot authorities
in response to Israeli demands to determine whether it carried any
weapons, according to the UN investigator. "None were found and
Israeli authorities were so informed."
"Nonetheless, the 21 peace activists on the boat were arrested, held
in captivity and have been charged with 'illegal entry' to Israel even
though they had no intention of going to Israel," Falk added.
ISRAEL ENVOY SAYS FALK 'BIASED'
Israel's ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Aharon Leshno-Yaar, rejected
the remarks by Falk whom he said was "known for his bias against
Israel and anti-Israel statements".
Israel is allowing relief aid to reach Gaza in coordination with Egypt
and the Palestinian Authority, Leshno-Yaar said.
"Clearly the purpose of that ship was to create a buzz and serve as a
propaganda vehicle against Israel," he told Reuters.
Activists from the U.S.-based Free Gaza movement said that Irish Nobel
peace prize laureate Mairead Maguire and former U.S. congresswoman
Cynthia McKinney were among those aboard.
Falk, who is Jewish, has had his own difficulties with Israeli
authorities in trying to fulfill his independent mandate for the UN
Human Rights Council.
Last December, he was detained and turned back from Israel, forcing
him to abort a planned mission to Gaza -- a deportation denounced by
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
In a report last March, Falk said Israel's year-end military assault
on the densely population coastal strip of 1.5 million appeared to
constitute a grave war crime.
https://twitter.com/xprophecy/status/2448546899
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1097608.html
* * * *
FREE CYNTHIA MCKINNEY
http://twitter.com/cynthiamckinney
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